By Jane Sutton

MIAMI, June 14 (Reuters) - Relatives of 22 people killed by Colombian paramilitaries filed a U.S. civil damages lawsuit against the Chiquita banana company, which has admitted paying off violent guerrilla groups, the plaintiffs' lawyers said on Thursday.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a week after a similar suit was filed in Washington on behalf of other victims of the AUC, or United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.

The Florida lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for families of 22 AUC victims, who lived on Chiquita plantations or in nearby villages in Colombia, plaintiffs' attorney William Wichmann said. The victims died between 1997 and 2004 in the banana-growing region of Uraba in northwestern Colombia.

"They were all murdered, including a teacher, a student and an 8-year-old child who was hit by a stray bullet, but nonetheless was murdered," Wichmann said.

The AUC is accused of carrying out massacres during Colombia's long-running guerrilla war before it began disarming in 2003.

In a March agreement with the U.S. Justice Department, Chiquita Brands International Inc. <CQB.N> agreed to pay a $25 million fine to settle a criminal complaint accusing it of paying the AUC more than $1.7 million from 1997 to 2004. The U.S. government has declared the AUC a foreign terrorist organization.

Chiquita, one of the world's largest banana producers, also acknowledged past payments to the rival FARC paramilitary group.

A spokesman at Chiquita's headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, said the company had not seen the Florida lawsuit and could not comment on specifics. But he said Chiquita had been forced to make the protection payments to safeguard its workers in Colombia.

"Chiquita was a victim of extortion in Colombia and we will not allow ourselves to become extortion victims in the United States. We'll vigorously defend ourselves against preposterous suits such as these," Chiquita spokesman Michael Mitchell said.

The latest suit was filed in Florida because Chiquita has a major import subsidiary in the state, the plaintiffs' lawyer said. It was filed under a law allowing residents of other nations to sue in U.S. courts for damages resulting from illegal actions in their country by U.S. entities, he said.

AlertNet news is provided by